Isaiah 14
14
1 FOR THE Lord will have mercy on Jacob [the captive Jews in Babylon] and will again choose Israel and set them in their own land; and foreigners [who are proselytes] will join them and will cleave to the house of Jacob (Israel). [Esth. 8:17.]
2 And the peoples [of Babylonia] shall take them and bring them to their own country [of Judea] and help restore them. And the house of Israel will possess [the foreigners who prefer to stay with] them in the land of the Lord as male and female servants; and they will take captive [not by physical but by moral might] those whose captives they have been, and they will rule over their [former] oppressors. [Ezra 1.]
3 When the Lord has given you rest from your sorrow and pain and from your trouble and unrest and from the hard service with which you were made to serve,
4 You shall take up this [taunting] parable against the king of Babylon and say, How the oppressor has stilled [the restless insolence]! The golden and exacting city has ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the [tyrant] rulers,
6 Who smote the peoples in anger with incessant blows and trod down the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution–[until] he who smote is persecuted and no one hinders any more.
7 The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth into singing.
8 Yes, the fir trees and cypresses rejoice at you [O kings of Babylon], even the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.
9 Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead) below is stirred up to meet you at your coming [O tyrant Babylonian rulers]; it stirs up the shades of the dead to greet you–even all the chief ones of the earth; it raises from their thrones [in astonishment at your humbled condition] all the kings of the nations.
10 All of them will [tauntingly] say to you, Have you also become weak as we are? Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp and magnificence are brought down to Sheol (the underworld), along with the sound of your harps; the maggots [which prey upon dead bodies] are spread out under you and worms cover you [O Babylonian rulers].
12 How have you fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning! How you have been cut down to the ground, you who weakened and laid low the nations [O blasphemous, satanic king of Babylon!]
13 And you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit upon the mount of assembly in the uttermost north.
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (Hades), to the innermost recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).
16 Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?–
17 Who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who would not permit his prisoners to return home?
18 All the kings of the nations, all of them lie sleeping in glorious array, each one in his own sepulcher.
19 But you are cast away from your tomb like a loathed growth or premature birth or an abominable branch [of the family] and like the raiment of the slain; and you are clothed with the slain, those thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown], like a dead body trodden underfoot.
20 You shall not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land and have slain your people. May the descendants of evildoers nevermore be named!
21 Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons because of the guilt and iniquity of their fathers, so that they may not rise, possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.
22 And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son, says the Lord.
23 I will also make it a possession of the hedgehog and porcupine, and of marshes and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts.
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought and planned, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand–
25 That I will break the Assyrian in My land, and upon My mountains I will tread him underfoot. Then shall the [Assyrian's] yoke depart from [the people of Judah], and his burden depart from their shoulders.
26 This is the [Lord's] purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is [His omnipotent] hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who can annul it? And His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
28 In the year that King Ahaz [of Judah] died there came this mournful, inspired prediction (a burden to be lifted up):
29 Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod [of Judah] that smote you is broken; for out of the serpent's root shall come forth an adder [King Hezekiah of Judah], and its [the serpent's] offspring will be a fiery, flying serpent. [II Kings 18:1, 3, 8.]
30 And the firstborn of the poor and the poorest of the poor [of Judah] shall feed on My meadows, and the needy will lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant shall be slain.
31 Howl, O gate! Cry, O city! Melt away, O Philistia, all of you! For there is coming a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks and none stands aloof [in Hezekiah's battalions].
32 What then shall one answer the messengers of the [Philistine] nation? That the Lord has founded Zion, and in her shall the poor and afflicted of His people trust and find refuge.
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Isaiah 14: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Isaiah 14
14
Israel’s Return
1For the Lord will have compassion#1Kg 3:26 on Jacob and will choose Israel again.#Dt 7:7; Ps 102:13; Zch 1:17 He will settle them on their own land.#Dt 12:10; 2Sm 7:1 The resident alien will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.#Dt 14:21,29; Zch 8:22–23; Eph 2:12–14 2The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land.#Is 9:7; 45:14–25; 49:22–26; 60:9; 61:5; 66:19–24 They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.
Downfall of the King of Babylon
3When the Lord gives you rest from your pain,#Gn 3:16; Is 14:3; Jr 44:19 torment, and the hard labor#Ex 1:14 you were forced to do, 4you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon#Mc 2:4; Hab 2:6 and say:
How the oppressor has quieted down,
and how the raging#14:4 DSS; Hb uncertain has become quiet!
5The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers.
6It struck the peoples in anger
with unceasing blows.
It subdued the nations in rage
with relentless persecution.
7The whole earth is calm and at rest;
people shout with a ringing cry.
8Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon
rejoice over you:#Ps 104:16; Is 55:12; Ezk 31:16
“Since you have been laid low,
no lumberjack has come against us.”
9Sheol below is eager to greet your coming,
stirring up the spirits of the departed for you —
all the rulers#14:9 Lit rams of the earth —
making all the kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
10They all respond to you, saying,
“You too have become as weak as we are;
you have become like us!
11Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,
along with the music of your harps.
Maggots are spread out under you,
and worms cover you.”
12Shining morning star,#14:12 Or Day Star, son of the dawn#2Pt 1:19; Rv 2:28; 22:16
how you have fallen from the heavens!#Is 34:4; Lk 10:18; Rv 8:10; 9:1
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
13You said to yourself,
“I will ascend to the heavens;#Jr 51:53; Ezk 28:2; Am 9:2
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.#Dn 5:22–23; 8:10; 2Th 2:4
I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North.#14:13 Or of Zaphon#Ps 48:2
14I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15But you will be brought down to Sheol
into the deepest regions of the Pit.#Ps 28:1; Is 38:18; Ezk 28:8; Mt 11:23; Lk 10:15
16Those who see you will stare at you;
they will look closely at you:
“Is this the man who caused the earth to tremble,
who shook the kingdoms,
17who turned the world into a wilderness,#Jl 1:19–20; 2:3,22; 3:19
who destroyed its cities
and would not release the prisoners to return home?”
18All the kings of the nations
lie in splendor, each in his own tomb.
19But you are thrown out without a grave,
like a worthless branch,
covered by those slain with the sword
and dumped into a rocky pit like a trampled corpse.
20You will not join them in burial,
because you destroyed your land
and slaughtered your own people.
The offspring of evildoers
will never be mentioned again.#Jb 18:16,19; Ps 21:10; 37:28; Is 1:4; 31:2
21Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons,
because of the iniquity#Is 13:11 of their ancestors.
They will never rise up to possess a land
or fill the surface of the earth with cities.
22“I will rise up against them” — this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies — “and I will cut off from Babylon her reputation, remnant, offspring, and posterity” — this is the Lord’s declaration. 23“I will make her a swampland and a region for herons,#14:23 Or hedgehogs; Hb obscure and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction.”
This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
Assyria Will Be Destroyed
24The Lord of Armies has sworn:
As I have purposed, so it will be;
as I have planned it, so it will happen.#Pr 16:4; Is 46:11; Jr 23:20; 30:24; 51:29; Zch 1:6; Eph 1:11; Rv 17:17
25I will break Assyria#Is 8:7; 10:5–15,27 in my land;
I will tread him down on my mountain.
Then his yoke will be taken from them,
and his burden will be removed from their shoulders.
26This is the plan#Is 5:19 prepared
for the whole earth,
and this is the hand stretched out
against all the nations.
27The Lord of Armies himself has planned it;
therefore, who can stand in its way?
It is his hand that is outstretched,
so who can turn it back?
A Pronouncement against Philistia
28In the year that King Ahaz died,#2Kg 16:20; 2Ch 28:27; Is 6:1 this pronouncement came:#Is 13:1
29Don’t rejoice, all of you in Philistia,
because the rod of the one who struck you#1Sm 17:50; 18:25–30; 19:8; 23:1–5; 2Sm 5:17–25; 8:1 is broken.
For a viper will come from the root#14:29 Or stock of a snake,
and from its egg comes a flying serpent.#Ex 4:2–3; 7:10–12; Is 30:6
30Then the firstborn#Ex 4:22 of the poor will be well fed,
and the impoverished will lie down in safety,
but I will kill your root with hunger,
and your remnant will be slain.
31Wail, you gates!#Is 3:26; 24:12; 45:2 Cry out, city!
Tremble with fear,#Jos 2:9,24 all Philistia!
For a cloud of dust is coming from the north,#Is 41:25; Jr 1:13–14; 4:6; 6:1; 47:2; 50:3,9,41
and there is no one missing from the invader’s ranks.
32What answer will be given to the messengers from that nation?
The Lord has founded Zion,#Ps 87:1,5; 102:16; Is 28:16; 44:28; 54:11
and his oppressed people find refuge in her.
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